SAN FRANCISCO — Three former Bay Area life insurance agents have been convicted of wire fraud and identity theft in connection with a scheme to submit phony applications for policies and splitting the subsequent commissions and bonuses.

The wire fraud charges carry a maximum statutory penalty of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine or twice the gross gain or loss from the offense. The maximum statutory penalty for aggravated identity theft is two years in prison.

While working for the American Income Life Insurance Co., the trio submitted applications for policies on behalf of people at least some of whom did not know that a policy was applied for or issued, or did not want a policy, according to prosecutors.

The trio then shared commissions and bonuses issued by the Waco, Texas-based company in connection with the policies.

Prosecutors said personal information used to apply for the policies was collected through various means, including paying recruiters to find people to take medical exams and paying people to participate in a fictitious survey of a medical exam company.

The trio opened hundreds of bank accounts to fund the premiums on the policies and typically paid the premiums for one to four months before letting the policies lapse, according to prosecutors. They also returned verification calls to the company purporting to be the applicants.

Magat, Halali and Gagarin are scheduled to return to court July 28 for sentencing.

Jason Green is a breaking news reporter for the Bay Area News Group. He works week nights and spends most of his time covering crime and public safety. A graduate of UC Santa Barbara and the University of Southern California, he cut his teeth at the Inland Valley Daily Bulletin and the Palo Alto Daily News, and has been with the Bay Area News Group since its inception.